


A Wolf and a Seahorse

by RueRambunctious



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Animagus, F/M, Sexual Content, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-04
Updated: 2016-08-04
Packaged: 2018-07-29 08:16:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7676965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RueRambunctious/pseuds/RueRambunctious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Why Charlie is kind to Teddy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Wolf and a Seahorse

Once upon a time, Charlie and Tonks were lovers. It had been during that time that he had seen firsthand that to Tonks, being an animagus was just a step further from changing her nose into a pig snout like she had regularly done to amuse his sister. It was because of this that he had been able to enlighten everyone that Teddy changing his appearance into something wolflike was actually *not* a cause for alarm. 

That was when people had first began to even consider that Charlie’s relationship with the boy’s parents had been anything other than what everyone had been aware of. They’d assumed Charlie’s devotion had been down to the combination of Teddy’s obvious attachment and Charlie being a Weasley (and therefore surely wanting lots of little Weasleys one day).

Charlie mentioned that he knew that metamorphmagi found it easy to become animagi because there had been a time when he and Tonks had been friends. He did not allude to their ever being rather especially close.

Teddy was delighted because Charlie’s revelation meant Teddy’s grandmother had to lift the all out ban on changing his appearance in any way, which she had imposed after the wolf incident. Teddy hated being restricted to his natural hair colour –a very boring sort of brown, with a few tawny highlights.

Charlie tended to be Teddy’s hero. He adored when Charlie came back from Egypt. Charlie knew how much Teddy looked forwards to his visits. He always made sure to bring the boy spectacular presents. At the moment, Teddy was enraptured by a muggle attraction known as a sea world. Charlie found himself taking the boy at least every other day. Teddy loved walking through the tunnel looking at all the fish and turning his fingernails the same colours.

Charlie liked the sea lions. Teddy sweetly tolerated the long lengths of time they spent watching them. The boy made a point of remembering their feeding times, because Charlie liked those times best.

They used to be friends, Charlie and Tonks. He liked that she was wild and fun and secretly very intelligent. She liked his long hair, piercings, leather trousers and that he could quietly be a gentleman when she was having a rough day.

She adored him, Charlie knew, although she only acted like she was very fond of him. They had a lot of fun together. It was natural to start dating. She started making her hair look like flames all the time. He liked when she made the flames green, like when you burn copper in potions.

The sex was…particularly good. It was the best part of their relationship.

He broke up with her. They stayed buddies, and the sex was just as great.

Tonks knew he went both ways long before anyone else did, possibly including him. She made a point of pestering him for anal (he called it pestering, but he didn’t protest that much) and her ability to give herself body parts that she wasn’t born with was quite useful. At the very least it meant she knew *exactly* what felt good to a cock.

It was her Charlie spoke to about his first boyfriend, his first gay experience, his worries about his sexuality. It was Tonks he confided in when Bill had gotten drunk and admitted to being a little bi-curious. Tonks was the only person Charlie told about his suspicions that he had about the ‘friendship’ Bill had with a Durmstrang boy. They had owled each other no less frequently that every three days and they were inseperable for two summers. Tonks helped Charlie find the right words to say to comfort Bill when the owls didn’t come any more.

Charlie knew that he had control in their friendship, and that he sometimes abused that, but she had his trust. Tonks was a very good person. She wasn’t weak either. She was much loved within the school, and she didn’t take any nonsense from anyone who had bad things to say about her parents.

Tonks was really quite cool. A lot of people would have loved to be in Charlie’s position. For all she was cool, Tonks rarely used her popularity. The only time Charlie ever saw her do it was when she used her sway to persuade people that the losers who were always on the outskirts had value too, and she’d manage to make them a little bit cool. From there, plenty of the once-losers used their own once-overlooked talents to become wholly cool. They would all probably have beat Charlie up if they knew how one-sided his friendship with Tonks often was.

She didn’t care that it was. She was always there for him whether he was there for her or not.

As they progressed through school Tonks grew less attached to him. He knew she’d outgrown the crush she’d had on him. Without that power over them their friendship became much more equal.

Privately, he sort of looked up to her. He thinks she knew that, although he never told her.

And yes, the sex continued. Tonks' core personality trait was ‘fun’.

They drifted apart a bit, although Charlie saw her a lot at exam times. She helped him de-stress but he preferred to study with her too. She would have made a great teacher. She could make anything fun.

She was a little bit mischievous, although she was essentially a moral person. They weren’t supposed to actually attempt the animagus magic, just be able to write about it, but she was sure she would be able to do it.

They prepared, and eventually she tried it first. They decided to do it one at a time so there would be someone able to do something if things deviated from their plans.

They’d both been surprised when they discovered her animagus form was a wolf. Charlie knew she was disgruntled by her mousy brown markings and made a point to tease her about them.

She gave him a killer glare and changed the brown markings to bright pink ones. She started wearing her hair pink after that. It was their in joke.

After a bit more preparation it became Charlie’s turn to attempt the transfiguration.

It was not a pleasant experience.

He got the process right first time. Unfortunately he found he was not a dragon, which was what he was rather hoping. He wasn’t even a lizard.

He wasn’t even a mammal.

It was very fortunate that Tonks was quick-thinking and level-headed enough to conjure a jug and some water. Charlie wasn’t convinced he would have been able to perform an aguamenti charm so swiftly had their positions been reversed.

Charlie’s animagus form was a seahorse. A piddly little bloody seahorse.

Tonks told him the Japanese called seahorses ‘little dragons’.

He didn’t take her for granted after that. A few months later Tonks started really putting her nose to the grinding stone over her auror stuff and he rarely saw her after that until she was actually an auror and in the Order.

They renewed their friendship a little, but it wasn’t physical anymore. It was just sharing little looks and smiles and making each other laugh.

They laughed when she got together with Remus. Charlie knew before anyone else.

“I wonder when you’ll find someone who likes seahorses,” she said when Charlie admitted too casually that the pair of Egyptian twins (one of each gender) that he had not told his family about were really no more important to him than a pleasant-looking means to get his end away regularly. Charlie had grunted. Anyone else would have been congratulatory on his catching a pair of delicious twins, but Tonks starts on about seahorses and how he’s not really satisfied, is he?

He’d shrugged. “You are,” he said.

She’d smiled, and he knew she was thinking of Remus. He wasn’t really surprised. She had a thing for older men, they seemed to treat her more respectfully. It wasn’t until years later that he actually understood the respect thing though. He hadn’t understood for a long time why such a feisty, capable person like her would enjoy being treated like a princess. She’d always been so rough and ready.

He hadn’t been surprised that the scars didn’t bother her. He himself was regularly sporting burns and well…she’d been very *close* with her mentor Mad Eye.

“It’s important to be happy,” she said. “You might want to try looking for it.”

He’d understood that meant ‘soul connection > sex [even fantastic sex]’. He’d made her a drink.

What Tonks had been trying to get across was why he was here now, kneeling in front of her. He came to her grave a lot, although he tried to keep that quiet. He’d looked at the grave beside her’s and remembered that she had said that she didn’t make her markings pink when she was with Remus. She thought that was important because she could be who she really was with the wolf, even the stuff she didn’t like about herself. As his friend she’d wanted him to find his own Remus.

“I found her you know,” he told her. “But she likes sea lions best, not seahorses.”

He’d smiled and patted both their headstones. “I’m glad you were happy with each other,” he said. “And you don’t need to worry about Teddy. I’m gonna be a much better friend to him than I ever was for you. He’s like you both, but he reminds me of you most Tonks. He’s really kind and fun. You’d be really proud.”


End file.
